“‘What Google really wants is for everybody to be signed in to their Google accounts all the time,’ a Google insider told me in passing last month,” Leo Mirani reports for Quartz.
“Around the same time, the official Gmail blog put up a 205-word post explaining the latest update to the Gmail app for Apple devices that run on iOS 7. ‘The app now fully supports background app refresh, which means your Gmail messages will be pre-fetched and synced so they’re right there when you open the app—no more annoying pauses while you wait for your inbox to refresh,'” Mirani reports. “That’s great! But wait, what’s this: ‘The Gmail app also now supports sign-in across Google iOS apps, including Maps, Drive, YouTube and Chrome. Sign in to one, and you’ll be signed in to all (this also works for signing out). So you won’t have to type in that 27-character password or retrieve your 2-step verification code every time you navigate to another Google app. You may need to re-login after you update the app, but then you’ll be all set.'”
“That sounds convenient. And it is — but not for you, for Google,” Mirani reports. “This change affects only Apple users who have upgraded to iOS 7, the latest version — but that’s 85% of iOS devices. They no longer have the ability to remain anonymous as they watch videos on YouTube or navigate their cities using Google Maps.”
Much more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline M.” for the heads up.]